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Congratulations to our 2024 PUSD
Teachers of the Year!
Ross Kallen, Elise Milling and Nicole Stowell
Receive School District Honors
The Poway Unified School District (PUSD) is proud to announce that Ross Kallen, Visual/Technical Arts Teacher at Rancho Bernardo High School; Elise Milling, 8th Grade Humanities and Performing Arts Teacher at Mesa Verde Middle School; and Nicole Stowell, Education Specialist at Sunset Hills Elementary School have been chosen as the PUSD Teachers of the Year for 2024.
Congratulations to Christina Bass who was named
2023-24 San Diego County Teacher of the Year!
Painted Rock Elementary School Teacher Honored at "Salute to Teachers" Reception
(San Diego, CA) - The Poway Unified School District is proud to announce that Christina Bass, ASB Advisor and 2nd/3rd-grade teacher at Painted Rock Elementary School, has been named as a 2023-24 San Diego County Teacher of the Year. Christina's exceptional commitment to her students, innovative teaching methods, and impactful community involvement have earned her this prestigious recognition.
Read more
1. Educational Leader Feedback (ELF) Survey |
January 17, 2024
Dear PFT Members,
PUSD and PFT are happy to announce an agreement that will ease the burden for teachers accessing leave in differential pay status. Effective February 1, 2024, instead of paying $205 per day (and $225 per day starting on day 11), the amount deducted for teachers in differential pay status will be $158 per day (with no additional increase on day 11 and beyond)!
Teachers in differential pay status are paid their full salary less the cost of a sub. Differential pay occurs, per CA Ed Code, when a teacher accesses leave options such as extended sick, child bonding, or the third compelling reasons day. For example, a teacher who runs out of accrued sick leave, but remains medically unable to work, can access extended sick leave for up to 100 workdays at differential pay. Similarly, a teacher who becomes a parent can access child bonding leave for up to 12 weeks. If accrued sick leave has been exhausted, the teacher can remain home with their child for the remainder of the 12 weeks at differential pay.
This differential pay deduction of $158 per day could change as salary increases are negotiated, but per this agreement, the amount deducted for differential pay will remain half the daily rate of the lowest cell on teacher salary schedule I (currently B2).
NOTE: If you are a teacher who has been on an approved leave of absence through Dec 31, 2023 AND this absence resulted in differential pay, you have been "grandfathered in" at the "old" sub rates ($180 per day and $200 per day on day 21 and beyond) through January 31. You would have received a letter from PUSD via US mail informing you of this if you are in this group.
In Partnership,
James Jimenez, Associate Superintendent, PSS
Kelly Logan, President, PFT
September 13, 2023
Dear PFT Members,
If you or your dependent has student loans, you may be interested in the information below from AFT.
After more than 3 1/2 years, student loan payments will resume in the next few weeks. Because of the AFT’s advocacy, significant changes have been made to make your student debt more manageable and, potentially, easier to forgive.
The SAVE plan is an income-driven repayment plan that calculates payments based on a borrower’s income and family size—not their loan balance—and forgives remaining balances after a certain number of years. The SAVE plan will cut many borrowers’ monthly payments to zero, will save other borrowers around $1,000 per year, will prevent balances from growing because of unpaid interest, and will get more borrowers closer to loan forgiveness faster.
The new plan will provide affordable monthly payments, ensure that borrowers never see their balance grow from ballooning interest if they keep up with required payments, and even provide early loan forgiveness for low-balance borrowers. To learn more, or to sign up for SAVE, visit StudentAid.gov/SAVE. Payments under this plan qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
To learn more about the SAVE plan, the PSLF program, or how you can get personalized student debt guidance with our online partner Summer, click here to register for an upcoming AFT Student Debt Clinic webinar.
As always, the AFT will continue to push for ways to make college more affordable and accessible and to fight for investment in higher education, so that every student who chooses to pursue higher education can do so.
Updated COVID-19 Guidance |
January 24, 2024
Dear PUSD staff,
On January 9, 2024, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released updated COVID-19 testing and isolation guidance. Subsequently, the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) and the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency collaborated and updated the COVID-19 Decision Table for K-12 schools on January 22, 2024. The updated guidance will allow individuals to follow a more symptom-based approach as they usually do for other illnesses.
Poway Unified’s COVID-19 policy is now aligned with the updated guidance from the California Department of Public Health and SDCOE. Students and staff who test positive and are asymptomatic may remain in school or at work. Students and staff who test positive and are experiencing symptoms may return to work or school when they start to feel better, their symptoms are mild and improving, and they have not had a fever for 24 hours without fever reducing medications. There is no longer a '5-day' rule to stay home following a COVID-19 positive test if the individual is asymptomatic or feeling better.
TPLES - Teacher Professional Learning and Effectiveness System
Dear Colleagues,
The demands on a teacher's time are endless, and the school year seems to go so quickly from this point on. The below link Teacher Professional Learning and Effectiveness System (TPLES) reminder sheet is intended to provide support and suggestions for teachers in the evaluation cycle this year, as they monitor and document progress on their SLO/PLO. It can also help make the final evaluation conference, for both traditional and alternative evaluations, more meaningful for the teacher and administrator.
Teacher Professional Learning and Effectiveness System (TPLES) reminder sheet - click here
In Unity,
Kelly
Classroom Supplies using Online Donation Site |
What teachers need to do first to be eligible for donations: Go to www.pusddonate.org. Click your grade level (elementary, middle, high), click your “Site”, click “Teachers”. Please be sure your name is listed. The website is linked to the district’s payroll system. Therefore, the donation website uses the same name you are using for payroll purposes (legal name). Unfortunately, we cannot change that name.
What the Online Donation website provides:
1. Parents have the option of donating directly to their child’s teacher(s), program, department, grade level, program, or the school site’s general fund using this online donation website. The website is designed to provide parents with an easy and convenient way to help fund our instructional supply needs. Teachers and schools have received more than $100,000.00 in donations using this website. It works.
2. Parents may access the donation website by going to www.pusddonate.org. Parents receive a tax deduction and email confirmation when donating. The website also includes a “Matching Gift Program” if a parent’s employer provides that benefit.
3. Teachers receive an automatic email confirmation stating the amount of the donation, donor’s name and email, and student’s name, if provided by the parent. Our District uses a spam filter. Therefore, to receive confirmation emails from the donation site you must check your spam folder. When you see the link, pusdonline@firstlinemerchant.com that’s the Online Donation secure banking (when using a credit card) email address. Please “whitelist” this email address. For accounting purposes, your site finance clerk or site secretary receives a monthly report of all donations. If you have not received an email confirmation but think you have received a donation, check with your site secretary or finance clerk.
Donation: Teachers access these donations the same way they would their regular supply budget/s at the site.
COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES: Teachers may communicate this website to parents via their MyConnect site, newsletter, and/or during Back-to-School Night (see Common Message on Q&A attached). To promote greater equity among all our classrooms, we suggest grade-level teams or departments come together to identify their “collective” supply needs and request donations be made to the grade-level or department, rather than individual teachers.
Please note: Donations to this account may only be used for instructional supplies (e.g. school supplies, software, workbooks, art and science materials…). If requesting donations for technology, check with your principal. The primary function of your site Foundation is to purchase software and technology and teachers should be coordinating their efforts.
Field Trip Fees: The Classroom Supplies ~ Online Donations website now offers the option of collecting Field Trip fees. More information and directions for teachers will be coming soon in a separate email.
I've attached an FAQ and a handout you may wish to provide to parents.
Attachments:
FAQ Classroom Supplies
CSOLD Parent Handout
In Unity,
Kelly
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PFT-PUSD Interest Based Problem Solving - Click here to read about IBPS |
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Thank you for visiting our website. If you have an questions, please contact us
Poway Federation of Teachers Local 2357
13475 Danielson Street
Suite 190
Poway, CA 92064
(858)674-2800
(858)674-2805 fax